Local 1000 Office Staff
Administrative Directors
Colin Dean
colin@local1000.org | 212-843-8726
Colin Dean is a professional bassist and composer, a consultant on music business and international affairs, and currently works part-time as assistant office manager for AFM Local 1000, the North American Traveling Musicians Union.
As a musician, he self-released his debut jazz album "Shiwasu" in 2010 to critical acclaim in publications such as Jazz Times, Jazz Inside Magazine and many more, as well as national radio airplay on programs including on NPR's Weekend Edition. He has headlined performances at venues including the Blue Note and Joe's Pub in New York, and has performed as a bassist and music director at major venues and music festivals throughout North America. He has collaborated with Grammy award winning artists and talent across genres from latin-jazz to hip hop, and is currently bassist for a number of projects featuring some of Broadway's top vocalists.
In business, he interned at Velour Music Group after finishing his undergraduate studies, worked for nearly three years as Communications and Marketing Coordinator for iASO Records, an independent world music label, and works as a consultant and music director for Nomadic Wax, a U.S. based social enterprise that produces music, film and educational events aimed at creating cross-cultural exchange and increasing awareness of global issues.
He currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors at the New School, where he is a graduate of both the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the New School Graduate Program in International Affairs. He also volunteers on the Artists for Peace Concert Series planning committee for SGI-USA, as well as the Justice for Jazz Artists Committee at AFM Local 802, the Musicians Union for Greater New York. Much of his graduate level research focused on music in international affairs and cultural diplomacy and he aspires to work internationally using music as a tool to promote peace and conflict resolution.
Richard Coombs
richard@local1000.org | 212-843-8726
Richard Coombs comes to Local 1000 with over 10 years’ experience as office manager first for a dinnerware designer and more recently for an architect. Prior to this, Richard spent nearly a decade appearing in the musical revue "Forever Plaid" playing in major cities around the USA. A member of the Actor's Equity Association since 1989, Richard was part of the Broadway company of "Senator Joe," a pop-opera written and directed by Tom O'Horgan in which, among other roles, he appeared as a singing enzyme on toe shoes bailing out whiskey from Joe McCarthy's liver. Richard began his show business career singing with Joe Baris and the Winged Victory Singers, a group that played every Catskill resort you can think of. He currently performs songs of the 30's and 40's such as "The Donkey Serenade" in Senior Centers under the auspices of the nonprofit group Vocal Ease. Richard graduated from the Hartt School with a degree in musical theater. Richard is very pleased to be working for the performers of Local 1000.
Local 1000 Executive Board
President - Aaron Fowler
president@local1000.org | 316-207-4715 | www.aaronfowler.org
Term: January 2021 - December 2023
Aaron Fowler is a native Kansan who grew up in Topeka and moved to Wichita, Kansas to attend Friends University where he received a degree in Music Education. He then went on to Wichita State University where he earned a Masters in Music Education (Conducting). Aaron taught in the Wichita district for 11 years before setting out as a full time musician.
A member of the Kansas Arts on Tour Roster with the Kansas Arts Commission, he is also a Wolf Trap Early Education Teaching Artist and a Baby ArtsPlay Teaching Artist with Kansas Wolf Trap. In addition, he is a founding Artist with Arts Partners Wichita where he is a roster Artist as well as serving as the Artist Coordinator for the organization.
In 1990, Aaron co-founded Hope Street Youth Development and served for 19 years as Executive Director, working with middle and high school students. He is a member of MENC (Music Education National Conference) and ACDA (American Choral Directors Association) and a consultant for several schools across south-central Kansas on issues of self-esteem, goal setting and leadership development in young people. It probably goes without saying that Aaron is a proud member of AFM Local 1000!
Vice President (U.S.) - Aileen Vance
vicepresident@local1000.org | 831-477-0961 | www.aileenvance.com
Term: January 2022 - December 2024
Aileen's stunning voice and rich-toned hand-built guitar have taken her halfway around the world from her hometown of Santa Cruz, California, bringing her unique musical vision to audiences across the U.S., Canada, Britain and Mexico. Her songs have been performed by artists such as Priscilla Herdman, Pete Seeger, Pat Humphries, Eileen McGann, Nancy Tucker, Jackson Gillman and Susie Burke.
"I'm a great believer in songs about ordinary people," she says, "because I find so much inspiration in how people survive and flourish against all the odds. Maybe that's why I love performing so much in front of so many different kinds of people: I just find people amazing."
Compassion for other beings on the earth is another of Aileen's central themes. Songs about the preservation of wolves, wild birds, whales, forests, and more are woven through her concerts and recordings. "I believe that one of the greatest responsibilities of the artist is to speak for those who might not be able to speak for themselves. It is a magical ability that we have as human beings: to imagine what it might be like to walk in someone else's shoes."
Aileen grew up listening to traditional singers of songs from Ireland, England, and Scotland, but she also has been influenced by North American musicians like Joni Mitchell, Jean Redpath, Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, and many more.
At Aileen's concerts, you are just as likely to laugh out loud as to cry, as she takes you on a journey through the full range of human experience---from the run-down shacks of Salinas Valley migrant farmworkers to the moonlit silence of a bird sanctuary to the joyous clamor of a second-grade classroom.
In the mid-1990’s Aileen became a parent and her music career evolved. During this time, Aileen served as a classroom music teacher, director of the Santa Cruz Peace Chorale, founder of “Zabalaza!” (an acapella world music choir), and director of Rise Up! Community Drop-in Song Circles. She also taught voice and composed, in addition to occasional performing. Now that her kids are grown, she is itching to get back out on the road more. She currently sings in a duo with Alisa Peres called “Violeta,” and collaborates with Canada’s Eileen McGann and David K. Prior to becoming a member of Local 1000, she was a member of Local 153 (San Jose CA).
Vice President (Canada) - Arthur McGregor
vicepresidentcanada@local1000.org | 613-258-6200 | celticrathskallions.ca
Term: January 2021 - December 2023
Arthur McGregor has played and organized folk music for most of his life and is well known as the founder of the Ottawa Folklore Centre. Arthur sings, plays guitar, autoharp, Appalachian dulcimer, bodhran, clawhammer-style banjo, djembe and mandolin.
He has been awarded ‘The Unsung Hero’ Award from the Canadian Folk Music Awards, The Estelle Klein Award (Folkmusic Ontario) and the Helen Verger Award (Ottawa Folk Festival) for his work in the world of folk music.
Secretary Treasurer - Donna Nestler
secretarytreasurer@local1000.org
Term: January 2023 - December 2025
Born in Westchester County, New York, Donna’s formal musical journey started with guitar lessons at age 9. It has taken her to playing flute, bassoon, recorders, hammered dulcimer, concertina, banjo, penny whistle, harmonica and, her favorite, banjolele.
During her 33 year tenure as a New York State school teacher, she incorporated music in her Social Studies classroom. Outside the classroom, she was a union representative and Treasurer for the Monticello Teachers’ Association.
Since retiring, she has toured extensively across the US and in Australia with her husband, Rick Nestler, and played locally with her band, The Dirty Stay Out Skifflers.
When not on tour or out sailing on her boat, you can find her at home in Monticello, NY.
Eastern Region Representative - Faith Nolan
repeast@local1000.org | faithnolan.org
Term: January 2022 - December 2024
Faith Nolan is a folk and jazz singer-songwriter with a decades-long music career, as well as a social activist. Nolan proudly identifies as a lesbian woman and has given voice to feminist struggles. She has advocated for workers' and childrens' rights, and raised awareness of the disproportionate number of Black and Indigenous women who are imprisoned in Canada.
Faith Nolan was voted one of Toronto's most inspiring women of 2020, and received the Min Sook Lee Award from Women of Labour and the Arts in 2014.
Mid-Western Region Representative - Matt Watroba
repmidwest@local1000.org | 810-750-6792 | mattwatroba.net
Term: January 2021 - December 2023
Matt Watroba is first and foremost a community singer. He has the knack for picking the perfect songs and stories for the audience in front of him. In concert, at a festival, in a library, in a school, or in the park, you can count on a performance that will get you singing, make you laugh, and leave you feeling a little bit better about the world we live in. Matt also works with award winning performer Rev. Robert Jones, presenting educational programs that celebrate diversity through the roots and branches of American folk music.
Western Region Representative - Susan Lewis
repwest@local1000.org
Term: January 2023 - December 2025
Although “born (and professionally trained) to be a dancer,” Susan was convinced by longtime singing partner Janet Stecher that she could use her voice as well as her feet to perform. Susan and Janet have sung together for over 40 years, as members of The Belles of Hoboken and Shays’ Rebellion (with Local 1000 member John O’Connor), and since 1989 as the duo Rebel Voices.
They have appeared in concert halls, K-12 classrooms and living rooms, and at coffeehouses, colleges, festivals, conventions, rallies, picket lines, and union halls across the U.S. and Canada, as well as in England and Portugal. Both can be heard on the Shays’ Rebellion album, “Daniel Shays’ Highway,” and on three Rebel Voices recordings: “A Little Look Around”, “Warning: Women at Work”, and “A Piece of the Wall”.
Most recently, Susan has delved into musical theatre, as a cast member in the Vashon Repertory Theatre 2021 production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song. Susan lives on Vashon Island, WA with musician husband Mark Graham. They have an adult daughter, Emily. “Life and art become one,” Susan says, “When Emily was seven, she came in from play, singing ‘Solidarity Forever’ mixed in with the words of ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.’ I realized then that I must be doing something right!”
Find out more about Susan and Rebel Voices at http://www.rebelvoices.com/